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Santur is an instrument indigenous to Kashmir, but nowadays played throughout the North. It is a hammered dulcimer which is struck with light wooden mallets. The number of strings may be as few as 24 or more than 100. Typical sizes tend to be around 80. It has a vibrant tone and has become very popular in the last 20 years.

The santoor is a Persian instrument introduced in Indian classical music during the XVth century.
A flat instrument made of a wooden box, the santoor has 30 to 40 groups of 3 iron strings, played with two metal forks. Maihar intrumental khyal is played on this instrument.
An instrument of the same family , the swarmandal is played by khyal singers, but with the fingers and only for vocal accompaniment. the swarmandal is tuned to the 3 octaves on a specific raga. The singers plays arpeggio of notes with its right thumb. Listen to the swarmandal accompaniement.

In the first picture the instrument is resting on a small stand. The second picture shows it being placed in the lap. Sometimes it is placed directly on the floor. The small wooden mallets are placed lightly between the index and middle fingers. This is facilitated by two finger sized cut-outs in the mallets. The mallets are shown below

Tuning styles are extremely variable. They are usually tuned to the particular rag and must therefore be retuned for each piece. Furthermore different artists have their own styles of tuning.
The origin of the instrument is clear. The name, structure, and technique point solidly to the Middle East. Yet, there are those who attempt to trace its origins to an ancient Indian harp like instrument known as "Vana Veena". There is absolutely no evidence for this latter view. If we are to accept this proposition, then how are we to explain its 2000 year disappearance, followed by a miraculous reappearance in a form and usage that, by mere coincidence, is similar to the middle eastern santur? It is clear that attempts to link the santur with this Vedic instrument are mere wishful thinking. There are many people who cannot accept the concept of something great developing outside of India.